Secret Slaves, Fight For Love
by roo17
Summary: Free by day, slaves by night, Ace and Zoro can't take much more. But they do it to protect the ones they love. Full Summary Inside. AceLu ZoSan, mentions of rape
1. Chapter 1: Secret Life

Secret Slaves, Fight For Love  
>Chapter One: Secret Life<p>

**Summary**: By day, they hang with their loved ones. But at night, they're forced the life of slaves. But when their masters threaten to also enslave the ones they love, Ace and Zoro fight back. But Blackbeard wins and Ace is forced to be a slave forever. With help from his friends, Luffy goes to fight for his brother's freedom, willing to give his life if he needs to.  
><strong>Pairings<strong>: AceLu, ZoSan, one sided TeachAce.  
><strong>Warnings<strong>: ooc-ness. I have never watched Doflamingo, so I have no idea how he acts. So if he's waaaaay out of character, *bows* I apologize! Rape.

**xxx  
><strong>_Chased like dogs, we run from your grasp until the some comes up. We crawl on our knees for you under a sky no long blue, we sweat all day long for you. But we sow seeds to see us through 'cause sometimes dreams just don't come true. We wait to reap what we are due.  
><em>_-Rise Against (Re-Education [Thorough Labor])  
><em>**xxx**

Luffy shook Ace awake as he brushed his teeth, still in his light blue boxers. For some reason, Ace _refused_ to wake up today and at the moment, all Luffy knew was that he was _starving_ and Ace was the one who _cooked_. And nothing was gonna stand in his way of getting his breakfast. _Nothing. At. All._ Luffy's eye twitched as Ace continued to sleep like a log and headed back into the bathroom to spit his toothpaste out. Well if Ace wanted to play like that, then Luffy knew exactly what to do. He grabbed a small cup of ice water from the kitchen and re-entered Ace's bedroom, a dark gleam in his eyes. 3… 2… 1… The ice water made contact with Ace's face and neck and he shot straight up. Houston, we have lift off.

"Luffy, what the _hell_!"

"I'm hungry." Ace stared disbelievingly at Luffy. "What?" Ace rolled his eyes and fell back onto the bed with a groan. "You're nipples are hard."

"That's nice, Lu. What time is it?"

"8:30." Ace gave another groan before rolling off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

"I'll be in the kitchen in a minute, Lu. Get everything ready for me."

"M'kay!" Luffy ran out of the bedroom to start getting ready while Ace brushed his teeth and washed his face. Only three hours of sleep again. He looked at his eyes and noticed they were getting darker and darker everyday from so little sleep. He wouldn't be able to take much more of this. He'd already been putting up with it for almost two years. He shook his head and put on a smile. He couldn't let Luffy suspect something wrong because then Luffy wouldn't let it go until he knew what was wrong. He slipped into his black shorts and put on his yellow button-up shirt, along with his red beads. He walked into the kitchen where Luffy was practically shaking with excitement for his food.

"Alright, so what do you want for breakfast today?"

"Bacon, eggs and toast!" Luffy drooled and Ace chuckled.

"Alright, coming up." He put bread in the toaster, eggs in the pan along with bacon and set some apples in front of Luffy. "Just until breakfast is done." Luffy wasted no time in eating the apples and started munching away. Ace chuckled and continued cooking until there was a knock at the door. "Hey Lu, could you get–"

"Hey, Zoro! Sanji!" Luffy said, opening the door.

"…the door." Ace mumbled, finishing his sentence. Sanji put his cigarette out and entered the house ruffling Luffy's hair slightly and Zoro walked over to Ace. "Hey, Zoro. I see you're up early."

"Back at you." Ace flipped the sizzling bacon with his spatula.

"So what time did you get home?" Zoro looked over his shoulder to make sure Luffy and Sanji weren't listening. In fact, they were on the other side of the kitchen arguing about some type of melon they saw at a party a few days ago.

"Around three in the morning." Ace flipped the eggs.

"Lucky bastard," he murmured, buttering the toast. "_He's_ been keeping me until five in the morning." Zoro shook his head and headed towards the table to sit. "Oi, breakfast is ready." Sanji and Luffy took a seat at the table and Ace served Sanji and Zoro first. "Sorry Lu, I hope you don't mind waiting a few more minutes for breakfast." Luffy set his head on the table and watched as his two friends ate the delicious looking food right in front of him.

"Why do they get to eat first?" Luffy whined and Ace rolled his eyes as he started on another batch of eggs, bacon and toast.

"It's because they're guests, Luffy. We go through this every time they come over." After a minute of Luffy's nonstop whining and attempts to steal some food, Ace served himself and Luffy breakfast as the group talked about upcoming plans they could make.

"Well I think maybe a vacation to Amazon Lily would be nice," Sanji commented, his mind filling with images of half naked women. Zoro rolled his eyes as he finished his eggs. Even though Zoro didn't show it, he had a crush on the blond cook for over a year now. He probably would have confessed his feelings but he had a feeling that Sanji might not swing that way, seeing as he always obsessed over any girl he laid his eyes on. Ace shook his head, noting that the blond was so caught up in his world that he didn't see the green-haired man roll his eyes. Ace felt sorry for Zoro, knowing the man's feelings for the blond. He even wanted to help him a few times, but Zoro said it was alright and rarely talks about his feelings.

"I don't think Amazon Lily is such a good idea," Ace commented as he chewed. "Last time we went there, Luffy made a stalker."

"Yeah, she was kinda creepy. Always following Luffy around, giving him bentos, pocky, mochi, onigiri, ebi sense…"

"Don't remind me," Ace replied dryly. He couldn't stand that lady! She was making so many _moves_ on _his_ Luffy that at one point when she mentioned _marrying him_, Ace wanted to strangle her. He argued with her on several accounts during the vacation and a few threats were even thrown around when Luffy wasn't around. "Damn cougar…"

"What was that?" Sanji asked and Ace looked up at him with his hands laced together, a rather dark look in his eyes.

"It's true." Ace looked back at his food, suddenly losing his appetite. "She kept asking Luffy to marry her even though she only knew him a week. She's too old for him."

"Yeah, no kidding," Luffy spoke, stealing the reaming food off Ace's plate. "She was kind of weird." Hearing those words seemed to comfort Ace and Zoro noticed this.

"Yeah, wouldn't want any jealousy going on." Ace's eyes widened just a tad and a tiny blush appeared, but luckily his hands hid most of it. Sanji and Zoro smirked. They knew Ace had a serious crush on Luffy for a few years now and they tried to convince him to tell Luffy how he felt but always rejected the idea, saying that it wasn't right for brother's to fall in love. Several times they tried to set Ace up and trick him into telling Luffy his feelings, but he saw through each trap and eventually they decided to give up. Suddenly, Luffy popped his head up with an idea.

"Oh! How about we go to Thriller Bark's Horror Festival? They'll be in town next month and we missed it last year! It'll be so fun! I bet Sanji will get scared again!" Sanji stomped his foot with a small blush.

"Oi, shut up! I only got scared because stupid marimo put a fake spider on my shoulder in the dark! It was a cheap shot! I said stop laughing!" Everyone at the table laughed heartily as tears leaked from their eyes at the memory.

"Alright, it's decided then. Thriller Bark Festival it is." Ace glanced at the grandfather clock against the wall before standing up. "We're gonna be late for our jobs, we better get going." They set their plates in the sink and grabbed their things. "Lu, got your jacket?"

"Hai. Let's go!" Sanji worked as both a chef and waiter at his foster father's restaurant The Baratie, one of the best eating establishments in the Grand Line. Zoro worked at a dojo to help train students who were eager to become swordsmen and continuously trained in hopes of someday beating Hawk-Eye Mihawk and take his place as the best swordsman in the world. Ace worked under a man named Whitebeard who gave his 'sons' various jobs to do like construction, demolishing, helping elders, anything. He was famous as being one of the best paying- and caring- bosses around. Every employee that worked for him earned the name Son to him. They were like family to him, and he was like a father to them. He even had a mansion built for his sons to live if they ever needed a place to live. One of his longest family members- and Ace's good friend- lived there, his name was Phoenix Marco. Luffy worked as a photographer for a famous company called GLP- Grand Line Photography. They all rushed to their jobs as they always did, it was their daily routine. But for Zoro and Ace, it was just the calm before the storm.

**x x x x x x x x x x**

It was six o'clock. Ace and Luffy had been off work for an hour already and they were just having fun at home when Ace's cellphone started ringing. Flipping open the phone and spotting the number, his smile slowly fell and he excused himself from the room to answer it. "Hello?" He tried his best to talk in a kind tone.

_"Ace, my friend! How are you?"_ Ace flinched at the loud voice that emitted from the phone.

"I'm alright."

_"Good. I need you to come in early tonight. I'd say, maybe ten minutes."_ Ace closed his eyes and repressed the urge to sigh.

"Ten minutes. I'll be there." He shut his phone and put it in his pocket, putting a fake smile on his face. "Hey, Lu. That was Whitebeard. I gotta cover for someone again." Luffy pouted and Ace thought it was too cute.

"Aw, okay. Maybe tomorrow we can play guitar hero or something." Ace grinned and ruffled Luffy's hair.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Now, you remember the rules for when I work nights, right?"

"No calling you unless it's a complete emergency."

"And by emergency, I don't mean calling me because you're out of meant." Ace tugged on Luffy's cheek who gave a whimper of pain.

"Oi, I got it, I got it!" Ace released his cheek and he nursed it. "Meanie." Ace simply stuck his tongue out before heading towards the door. "Be careful!"

"You too. See ya, Lu." Ace exited the house and sighed, hopping onto his bike and cycled his way towards his destination. On the way, he pulled out his phone and rung up Zoro. "Hey, did you get a call too?"

_"Yeah, I gotta come in early today. I wonder what they have in store for us today."_

"I don't know," Ace replied with a serious tone. "I guess I'll see you there in ten. Bye." He shut his phone and put his concentration back on peddling. He reached his destination and set his bike against the brick wall. He entered the large almost prison-like building and instantly spotted Zoro. They gave each other a nod before heading into another room where their masters awaited them. On the left was Marshall D. Teach. Aka, Blackbeard. On the right was Donquixote Doflamingo. Both were extremely strong men and rich enough to ruin anyone's life they wanted. Blackbeard motioned for his slave to come to his side and, reluctantly, Ace traveled over to him. Zoro watched as the freckled teen made his way to his master and Zoro felt sympathy towards him. Zoro had been a slave for a month before Ace was brought in as Teach's slave, and Zoro thought he had it pretty rough with the quack Doflamingo as his master. But seeing the way Teach treated Ace, Zoro knew he could have had it worse. The way Teach would look at Ace even gave Zoro the shivers and he couldn't even begin to think what that man had put Ace through already.

As Ace neared Teach, he could tell he was drunk and in a frisky mood which Ace had dreaded. There had been only two other times Teach had gotten drunk and they were two days Ace desperately tried to erase from his mind. He stood by Teach and the giant man put his arm around Ace's shoulders, making the teen tense up. Doflamingo motioned for Zoro to approach and he did, walking to his master's side. Zoro noticed the man was smiling, as usual. His smiled never disappeared, it was always there, and he was always laughing. Laughing at anything, everything and was always sadistic, much to Zoro's disappointment. Doflamingo pushed Zoro forward, ordering him to start working on the statue he was making. The green-haired man gave a quick glance at Ace who was being led off by Teach, a rather dark look in his eyes. Zoro silently wished everything would go well for Ace.

Ace knew what was coming. He knew it and he loathed it. First, Teach would make him work on the statue he and Doflamingo have been building. Then, after he got even drunker, he'd probably pull Ace off to the side, knock him out, chain him up, and have his way. That's how it happened the last two times and Ace desperately wished that wouldn't happen again. He and Zoro had their usual neck shackles put on so they couldn't try to escape. They then proceeded to work on the giant statue that would soon signify the strength and wealth of Teach and Doflamingo. They were forced to move bricks and rocks and giant plywoods. Make one wrong move and they were beaten. Sometimes Zoro would be hit or even have stones thrown at him by Doflamingo due to his sadistic side, and the swordsman was forced to ignore it. If Ace were to mess up, he would receive a hit to the body, usually leaving deep busies or even fractures sometimes. The two masters watched in amusement from the sidelines. "So, how many people have you told about your secret life?"

"Nobody," the two replied monotonously.

"Zehahaha! You've done well in hiding it for the past few years!" The two slaves continued to crumble rocks with picks.

"Fufufu, I was almost sure you two would crack in under a year! But if you did that, we'd also enslave your loved ones." The quack grinned and Ace and Zoro's grips tightened on their tools. That was right, if they told anyone about their situation, Sanji and Luffy were to be enslaved as well. That's why they always covered up their wounds and made excuses. Sanji just usually assumed Zoro got his from the dojo and training too much. Ace always told Luffy he and Marco always roughhoused too much or sometimes he got in fights with strangers looking for a fight. And thankfully, they believed the lies. Five hours had already passed and the two were starting to get exhausted, messing up more and more and earning more beatings. Ace gave a sigh as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was glad Teach hadn't tried anything on him yet and hoped maybe he wouldn't. But as he reached to move a pile of bricks, Teach came up behind and knocked him over the head with a shovel, knocking the freckled teen out.

"Ace!" Zoro looked at the unconscious teen and looked up at Teach. Before he could even think about trying anything, Doflamingo had Zoro on the ground, repeatedly stomping on his back. The swordsman let out a yell of pain in surprise before clenching his jaws and refused to make any other noise. Doflamingo simply laughed it off after he was done kicking the man.

"Fufufufu! Now back to work!" Zoro slowly picked himself and headed towards the statue to lay down some bricks, watching helplessly as Teach carried off Ace to a different room. "I said back to work!" The sound of a whip cracking echoed through the air and Zoro fell back to the ground.

Ace awoke to the sound of water dripping onto rocks. He opened his eyes and suddenly knew where he was. It was a dungeon like room where Teach liked to have his way with him. Ace quickly sat up and pulled at the chains that held his arms and legs frantically. _'No, no, no, no, I don't want to go through this again! Please, not again!'_ He tried to break the chains but they were too thick, so he tried to pull them out of the wall behind him. No luck. As Teach entered the room with a bottle of rum in his hand, Ace pushed himself against the metal bedpost, distancing himself between himself and his master. "What's wrong, Ace?" Ace pulled at the chains once more. "Zehahaha! There's no escaping us, Ace! Try all you want, but you cannot escape! And even if you do," he was suddenly at Ace's side caressing the boy's cheek. "I can always enslave that cute little brother of yours." He whispered in Ace's ear and it sent shivers down Ace's spine. Just the thought of Luffy having to go through this made him sick to his stomach. Teach grinned evilly at Ace and he pulled a headful of the teens hair back, earning a deep glare from the freckled teen. "Hush, relax." And Ace's glare turned more into a look of worry. "This won't hurt a bit."

**xxx  
><strong>**I know, I'm so evil. Q.Q I hate the pairing TeachAce, yet I always come up with Teach raping poor Ace. I fail, very badly. . So there will be two more chapters! It'll only be a three-chaptered story. So I hope you kinda liked it? Review please! Thank you~**

_The darkness I liveth and the cold ice I love  
><em>_~roo the ice vampire_


	2. Chapter 2: Fight For Freedom

Secret Slaves, FIght For Love  
>Chapter Two: Fight For Freedom<p>

**xxx  
><strong>The thing I treasure most in life cannot be take away. There will never be a reason why I will surrender to your advice. To change myself, I'd rather die, though they will not understand. I won't make the greatest sacrifice, you can't predict where the outcome lies. You'll never take me alive  
>-Disturbed (I'm Alive)<p>

We are the ones who kept quiet and always did what we were told.  
>-Rise Against (Prayer of the Refugee)<br>**xxx**

Luffy yawned as he slowly sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly in the pitch black. He glanced at the clock on his bedstead and noticed it ready 4:03 AM. He slowly pulled the covers off and dragged himself out and down the hall to Ace's bedroom door where he gave a quiet knock and glanced inside the dark room. The bed was empty and he glanced into the living room, finding the couch and kitchen also empty. Luffy reached for his cellphone hesitantly, debating whether or not he should call his brother. He was worried, he was. Lately, Ace had been coming home more and more late, making Luffy wonder just what his brother had been up to. He had talked with Sanji last week and the blond too said that Zoro had been coming home kind of late too, but not nearly as late as Ace. "Maybe I should wait another ten minutes." He headed into the kitchen and found himself making a cup of tea and sitting at the table sipping it quietly. Glancing back at the clock after some time, he found it was 4:47 and this time, he didn't hesitate to pull out his phone. But before he could dial the number, the front door opened and in walked Ace all bruised up. Luffy blinked in surprise. Why did his brother… have bruises and small scratches all over his body. And judging from the looks of it, they were all at different stages of healing and color. Ace tried to catch his breathe and Luffy thought that he saw a tear slide down Ace's cheek, but thought maybe it was just sweat. Ace looked up in surprise and wiped his face clean of sweat.

"Luffy, how come you're up?" He asked, his voice hoarse. Luffy stood and headed to his brother's side, making no attempt to hide his worry.

"Ace, what happened? Are you alright?" Ace held up a hand and chuckled dryly.

"I'm fine, Lu. I got in a bit of a scuffle with some guys on the way back to work. You just go to bed." But Luffy stood his ground.

"Ace, you need get those looked at. You don't look so good." Another dry chuckle and a loose grin.

"If you think I look bad, you should see the other guys. Now go back to bed, you need the rest." Ace started to walk towards his bedroom with a serious limp and Luffy saw some blood trickle down one of his calf's.

"Ace, you're bleeding!" Ace stopped and suddenly, thinking of something to say.

"I-It's just a scratch, Lu. Nothing serious, I'll take care of it now. I gotta w-wash up." Luffy noticed Ace shiver for a second before the older man ruffled his hair. "I'll wake you up when breakfast is ready." And without saying anything else, Ace locked himself in the bathroom to wash up. Luffy stood there for a while before sitting back at the table, finding himself no longer tired and stared at the wall wide awake.

Ace stripped all his dirty clothes off and climbed into the bathtub, letting the hot water from the shower rain down on his sore skin. He wanted it to wash everything away, the touches, the kisses, everything. He curled up in the tub and hugged his knees, resting his head upon his battered knees. The events that occurred earlier replayed through his mind over and over again, along with the other two times as well and Ace curled up even tighter. The dirt and blood from his injuries turned the water an icky color, but he didn't care. He tried his best to block the memories out, but failed to, seeing as every time he did they just come coming back, piling up. Just thinking about them made his ass hurt again and his whole body started to tremble. He felt so dirty, so used and disgusting. He gave a quiet sob as he dug his nails into his arms in hopes it would distract him from the events. He hated it, he fucking hated it. _'Why do I put up with this? Why don't I just run away? Why don't I just kill the fucking bastard! Murder him slowly and cut off that fucking dick he's so fucking proud of!'_ These thoughts seem to calm Ace down slightly, and he even gave another dry but evil chuckle. _'But I can't. Because if I even lay a finger on the bastard, his henchmen come after me and Luffy. Luffy… I can't let this happen to him.'_ Ace nodded to himself. _'That's right, this is all for Luffy. This is all for his sake. So man the fuck up, Ace. Man up and ignore the pain no matter what! You can let out your emotions some other time, but right now you have to be strong to protect Luffy!'_ Ace nodded again and lifted his head and brought his legs down. A throbbing pain traveled from his lower back, but instead of flinching, he put on a grin. "I can do this. For Luffy."

Luffy twiddled with his thumbs while sitting at the table staring at the clock with worry. Those wounds Ace had, were they from just a normal fight? They had to be. Ace may have been a mischievous person, but otherwise he was good and mannered. Was Ace trying to hide something from him? If so, what? Too distraught by his thoughts, Luffy didn't notice Ace walk into the kitchen and stand beside him. Ace glanced worriedly at his brother before putting on a grin. "Oi, Luffy." He ruffled his brother's hair, surprising the hyper teen and nearly making him fall off his chair.

"Oh, Ace! When did you enter the room?" Ace pulled out a frying pan and spatula.

"About a minute ago. Ham and eggs sound good for this morning?" Luffy grinned and nodded.

"Yes please!" But inside Luffy's mind, he was thinking about how Ace was acting. _'He's wearing a button-up shirt unbuttoned, which means he's not trying to hide his bruises now that I've seen them. His limp's not as bad and now he's acting all nice and cooking my favorite breakfast meal. Something is definitely not right. I should call Zoro later today and see if he knows anything.'_

"–ell? Hello, is anyone there?" Ace waved his spatula in front of Luffy's face several times and the younger brother blinked as he re-entered reality.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you slept well. Are you sure you're okay, Lu? I think you should take the day off today."

"Well Ace should too," Luffy spoke up and Ace sighed.

"Luffy, don't worry about the bruises. They'll heal soon and my leg's fine, I just pulled a tendon." Luffy opened his mouth again but found a piece of ham shoved in it before a word could be spoken. "And since I know you probably won't let it go, I'll also take the day off." Ace grinned and so did Luffy before nearly choking on his piece of ham. "Baka, don't swallow it whole! Try chewing your food for once!"

Ace and Luffy had spent most of the day down at the beach and the park and house just playing around and telling jokes. Luffy didn't know why, even though it was just a normal day, it felt special to Luffy. Like something like this would never happen again. And it started to scare Luffy. After they had finished telling jokes at the house, Luffy laid on the ground trying to catch his breath; Ace right next to him doing the same thing while staring at the ceiling. Why was Luffy feeling like this? Like Ace was suddenly gonna be ripped away? He glanced at his brother who looked so happy to be here, it made Luffy worry even more. "Ace?" The freckled teen turned towards his brother only to see Luffy almost on the verge of crying? Concerned, Ace quickly sat up- ignoring all his pain- and looked down at Luffy.

"Luffy, what's wrong? Are you hurt, did something happen?" He didn't understand, they were just laughing themselves to death and suddenly Lu was on the verge of crying! What happened in three seconds? Luffy threw himself at Ace and brought him into a tight hug and the older teen flinched slightly. "L-Luffy, what's wrong?" Now very concerned, Ace hugged his brother tightly in protective arms. "Please, tell me what's wrong." He stroked Luffy's hair and rubbed his back in small circles.

"Ace, promise me you won't leave me." He glanced down at his brother with confusion.

"What?"

"Promise me. Promise you won't leave, promise you won't die." Ace furrowed his brows. He didn't think his wounds would alarm Luffy this much. He thought his brother would just forget about it after breakfast.

"Luffy, where's this coming from? Of course I'm not gonna leave you, and I already promised I wouldn't die. Remember?" Luffy looked up at Ace.

"I… I just got this weird feeling you're gonna leave me." Ace chuckled softly.

"I promise," he replied quietly before kissing his brother on the forehead, hoping he would see it as a brotherly thing rather than a crush thing. Luffy giggled and Ace couldn't help but let a tiny blush show, finding his brother rather cute when he giggled like that. But before anything else could be said or done, Ace's phone rang and he flipped it open with Luffy still clinging to him. "Hello?"

_"Ace, we gotta get over there now. Something's up and I don't like it." _It was Zoro and he sounded serious, making Ace serious too.

"What do you mean? Did you get a call?"

_"Yeah, Doflamingo sounded different, like he had a scheme ready to be put into action. Listen, I got a really bad feeling about this. I'm heading over there now and I'm brining my swords. I suggest you bring something too just incase today we make our stand. Gotta go."_ Ace flipped his phone closed and grit his teeth and he dashed out of the room quickly, tearing away from Luffy and leaving him clueless in the living room.

"Dammit," Ace growled quietly. He ran to the storage room and grabbed out his old pipe weapon, a weapon he was more than familiar with. He twirled it a few times to make sure it was still in good shape before nodded and slamming the door closed. Now very alarmed and concerned, Luffy sprung to his feet to see what was wrong and saw Ace holding his pipe.

"Ace?" Ace rushed into his room and also grabbed his knife, attaching it to his shorts. He also grabbed his lucky hat too, hoping it would live up to it's name. "Ace! Ace, what's wrong?" He ran around the house looking for anything else me might need. He grabbed his bag and put a bo-staff in it along with a smoke and flash bomb if needed. Finally Luffy latched onto Ace's arm and buried his head into his brother's back. "Ace! Please… Tell me what's going on."

"I have to go fight, Luffy. Whitebeard's mansion is under attack," Ace lied. "And I promised I'd fight to protect Pop's. After all, he _is_ my father." Luffy nodded, understanding the situation. If any of his friends were under attack, he'd go and fight for them too, which had already done on serval occasions. "Luffy, I must go, so don't worry. I'll be back. I promised, remember? And I never break my promises." He turned around and gave Luffy a tight hug, afraid that this would be his last time seeing Luffy. "I love you, Lu. You're my brother and I'll always protect you." He placed another kiss on his brother's forehead and left the house quickly, leaving his brother to stand there in concern.

**x x x x x x x x x x**

Ace busted through the door to his master's chamber with Zoro had his side, both ready to fight to death if necessary. Their masters were sitting in their chairs, smirks on both their faces. "Ah, I think that's the fastest you both got here," Blackbeard sipped his wine and just looking at Teach made Ace hurt all over.

"Fufufu, we might as well tell them already. It looks like the suspense is killing them," Doflamingo spoke, licking his lips in a sadistic sort of way. Blackbeard's grin widened even more and Ace suddenly had an idea what this was about.

"You two have been faithful slaves to us for two years now. But progress is slow with only two slaves and we were thinking maybe progress would speed up with we doubled our numbers. Have any ideas who we're looking for?" Ace's eyes widened. He was right, they're going after _them_, Luffy and Sanji. Ace brought his pipe into view and Zoro brought out his swords.

"We won't let you anywhere near them!" They both shouted at once.

"Retaliation, eh?" Blackbeard set his goblet of wine down and stood up, Doflamingo doing the same. "Come on, Ace. We've had some good times together, haven't we?" Ace froze as the memories flooded back to him, earning a glance from Zoro. _'I was right,'_ the green-haired swordsman thought. _'That fucking pervert…'_ Ace's grip on his weapon seemed to double, his knuckles turning white. "Look, I'll make you a deal. You let me enslave Luffy without a fight and I won't touch a hair on him. No beatings, no sexing, nothing. But that means you drop your weapons now and kneel before me." Ace's hair hid his eyes and he shook with anger. If he gave up now, Luffy wouldn't be hurt. But he'd still be a slave. Ace looked up with such evil in his eyes that even the two masters shivered.

"I. Will. _Never._ Kneel before you. And if keeping Luffy safe means killing you now, then so be it!"

"Zehahaha! That's the answer I was expecting! I wasn't planning on keeping a deal with someone who would give up so easily!" This only made Ace madder and he rushed forward with his pole and Zoro rushed his master with his three swords. Ace jumped in the air and lifted his pipe to strike.

"Die, you fucking bastard!"

**x x x x x x x x x x**

Luffy paced through the house staring at the floor, his palms wet with sweat and his brows furrowed. It had already been two hours since Ace left and Luffy was deathly concerned about him. He flipped out his phone for the seventh time in three minutes for any missed calls or texts. None. "Ace…" Luffy ran his hand through his clammy hair, not caring he was sweating up a storm at the moment. Suddenly, his phone's ringtone screamed in the air and Luffy nearly dropped his phone in surprise. Answering quickly, he put the phone to his ear. "Ace?"

_"It's Sanji. Luffy, get your ass over here now! It's an emergency!"_ Luffy wasted no time in hanging up the phone and busting through the front door, jumping onto his bike and peddling down to Sanji's house. Reaching it out of breath, Luffy almost took the door off it's hinges as he burst into the house, spotting Sanji sitting next to Zoro on the floor. Luffy rushed over and noticed several deep cuts all over Zoro's body that were wrapped up.

"Zoro! What happened?" Sanji wiped away a single tear away harshly, his teeth clamped down on his unlit cigarette. "Sanji…?"

"Stupid Marimo got in a fight with some asshole named Doflamingo." Luffy blinked.

"You mean Dominique Doflamingo, one of the richest people around?" Sanji nodded. "Why would Zoro do that?" Sanji remained silent for a few seconds.

"Luffy, you might want to sit down."

"Why–"

"Just take a seat," Zoro demanded and Sanji set his hand on the swordsman's chest.

"Don't talk, Zoro. Get some rest, I'll take care of the rest." Luffy took a seat and soon Zoro's quiet snores were heard. "Luffy, Zoro and Ace have been hiding something from us for the last two years." Luffy remained quiet. "Two years ago, Zoro was approached by this Doflamingo guy and was forced to be his slave. Not long after, Blackbeard saw Ace one day and forced him to be his slave too." Luffy was confused.

"But Ace wouldn't do that, he wouldn't just… become a slave! Neither would Zoro! Even if they were threatened, they would never–!"

"They didn't threaten them, Luffy! They threatened us!" Sanji shouted, his cigarette falling to floor, and Luffy quieted down, staring dumbfounded.

"W-What?"

"They threatened us, Luffy! They said that if Ace and Zoro didn't agree, they would enslave _us_ instead! They've hiding it from us for two years because if they told anyone, _we_ would also be slaves!" Luffy sat there, shocked. Then the reality of everything set it. All those nights he had to work late, all the times he didn't come home till five, all those bruises! Luffy's hands curled into tight fists. He should have seen the signs earlier! But he didn't. He didn't because he was so used to his brother being strong and taking care of himself. He didn't think…

"Dammit," Luffy cursed, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his knees. "Dammit!" He looked down at Zoro. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine, nothing a few hours of sleeping stitching won't fix."

"So how did he get in a fight with Doflamingo?"

"Doflamingo and Blackbeard called them today and Zoro suspected they were scheming something. So they both got there and found out that they were planning to enslave us anyway, even though they did everything they were told to do." Luffy bowed his head low.

"Zoro, I'm so sorry you went through this."

"Don't be," he answered, waking up. "I'm not the one… who had it the worst." Something struck Luffy at that moment.

"That's why he had all those bruises on him this morning, Blackbeard beat him." Zoro clenched his teeth and closed his eyes and Luffy noticed the act. "What." Zoro curled his fists tightly, earning looks from both Sanji and Luffy. "Zoro, what are you not telling me. It was Blackbeard who did that to Ace, right?" Zoro nodded and Luffy paused. "Did… Did he do anything else to Ace?" Zoro made no move to respond and Sanji moved to cover his mouth.

"Don't tell me…" Zoro gave a slow nod and Luffy looked between the two.

"What! Tell me!"

"Luffy, what else was wrong with Ace this morning." Luffy thought back and remembered every moment, only finding one to stand out.

"He was limping. When I told him he was bleeding, he said he pulled a tendon and it was just a scratch. He was… limp… ing." Pure horror came on Luffy's face and he froze. "But, no… That couldn't happen to Ace. He wouldn't let himself go through that!"

"If it was to protect you, he would sell his own soul, Luffy," Zoro spoke quietly and Luffy threw his head against a wall.

"But why! I'd be a slave if it meant he wouldn't have to go through that! To be raped!"

"Because if Blackbeard enslaved you, he would have done the same thing to you. And Ace wasn't gonna let that happen." Luffy felt sick, sick to his stomach. Then another thing came to Luffy.

"So then… Ace wasn't going to fight for Whitebeard, he was going to fight Blackbeard." Luffy looked to Sanji. "He was also fighting." He glanced to Zoro. "Where is he? Is he still fighting?" Zoro sat up slowly, ignoring Sanji's directions to lay back down.

"The only reason I made it back is because I killed Doflamingo. When I looked over at Ace, he wasn't doing so good."

"So, you're saying…"

"Luffy, Ace lost the battle." Luffy shook his head.

"No, no, Ace wouldn't lose. Ace _can't _lose! He's… he's strong! So, if he lost, where is he now?"

"The deal was if we won, we were free to go. If we lost, we would be enslaved for another ten years, and one of you would be a slave for five years. But Blackbeard changed his deal at the last minute. If Ace lost, you would be safe, but Ace would be enslaved forever."

"Dammit!" Luffy punched the wall with all his might and banged his head against the wall. "Dammit, Ace! Why do you always do this! You always take the fall! You always take the punishment!" Luffy screamed in frustration and Sanji felt horrible inside. Here his crush made it home, but Ace's brother and crush was out there somewhere being tortured. It just wasn't fair.

"Luffy…" Sanji looked at the teen and suddenly noticed a change in his body posture.

"I will protect my brother. Zoro, Sanji, as soon as you're ready, we're going to save Ace. If you don't want to come, that's fine, then I'll go by myself. But hear this, no matter what, I _will_ save him." He glanced back at the two, waiting for their answers.

"I'm in," Sanji said, lighting another cigarette. Zoro looked at his wounds.

"GIve me a week and I'm ready." Luffy nodded, cracking his knuckles.

"Don't worry, Ace," Luffy whispered. "This time, I'll be the one protecting you."

**xxx  
><strong>**Eh, I wanted to end it differently, and yes, I know, Luffy is very ooh. Sorry. Hope it was still readable though. :3 Please tell me what you think so far? One chapter to go! Thank you**


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